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How social and temporal comparisons shape subjective aging.

David Weiss1, M Clara P de Paula Couto2, Klaus Rothermund2

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Comparing yourself to others makes you feel younger, while comparing yourself to your past or future self makes you feel older. These social and temporal comparisons significantly influence subjective aging perceptions.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Gerontology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Subjective aging is influenced by social and temporal comparisons.
  • Social comparison involves evaluating oneself against others.
  • Temporal comparison involves evaluating oneself against past or future selves.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how social and temporal comparisons shape subjective aging.
  • To understand the opposing effects of different comparison types on perceived age.

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal study with 2,425 participants (ages 39-93).
  • An experimental study with 160 participants (ages 50-75).

Main Results:

  • Social comparisons ('me vs. them') led to feeling younger.
  • Temporal comparisons ('me vs. past/future me') led to feeling older.
  • Self-perceptions of aging mediated the effect of temporal comparisons in Study 2.

Conclusions:

  • Social and temporal comparisons have opposing effects on subjective age.
  • Understanding these comparison processes offers insights into cognitive and motivational aspects of aging.